Spool treating apparatus



Feb. 6, 1962 M. CURRY SPOOL TREATING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 8, 1959 INVENTOR.

MAlCOLM -CURRY JTTORNEYS Feb. 6, 1962 M. CURRY SPOOL TREATING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 8, 1959 INVENTOR.

MAL CULM CUR/P) 4 TIDE/YE YS States 7 trite Thread Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed 3a 8, 1959, Ser. No. 785,651 Claims. (Cl. 221-263) This invention relates to an apparatus for treating wound spools made of plastic material subsequent to their winding for the purpose of eliminating barb-like irregularities formed on their rims or flanges in the thread fastening-oft operation.

Wound spools or bobbins have the final ends of the thread'fastened oii by cutting a slit or notch in one spool rim'and pulling the thread tightly into it. With plastic spools, when their rims are notched for such purposes, the displaced material does not settle back to its original position. Instead the displaced plastic material has a tendency to stand out in the shape of a sharp barb from the rim. Such barbs, under certain conditions of handling, might possibly puncture or irritate the fingers of the users and become cause for complain.

Principal objects and features of the invention are the provision of simple and effective apparatus for treating wound spools successively by rolling pressure to eliminate the barb-like points or irregularities formed on the atent rims of their end flanges in thread fastening-off operations.

Other objects and features of the invention are the provision of apparatus of this type which may be utilized in conjunction with other machines intended to perform other operations on the spools, for example the application of end labels or tickets thereto, so that the spools may be treated by the apparatus of this invention while in transit either to or from the other machines.

Additional objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following specification and the accompanying drawings forming part thereof, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary partial sectionalized elevation of apparatus embodying the invention;

PKG. 2. is a perspective view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary partial sectionalized elevational view of spool transfer mechanism of the apparatus in one position of its operation;

FIG. 4 is a similar view thereof in another position of its operation; I

FIG. 5 is a view taken along the plane of line 5--5 of FIG. 1, illustrating the pressure roller mechanism of the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a view of the pressure roller mechanism seen from the plane of line 6-6 of FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawing the reference character 10 denotes a feed runway through which wound spools, reels or bobbins 11 move from an upper entrance. These spools 11 are delivered to the entrance of the runway 16 for example from a spool labelling or ticketing machine (not shown). They roll downwardly toward the exit end Ilia of the runway. These spools 11 have been prepared asby molding from plastic material and as described above have barb-like irregularities or hangnails 12a, on the rims 12 of their end flanges 11a resulting from thread fastening-oil operations which should be eliminated before the spools are in satisfactory condition for distribution, sale and use. As seen in FIG. 1, these spools which may come directly from a labeling or ticketing machine or other source, pass downwardly through the chute or runway 19 in superposed arrangement. Preferably the runway has an inclined floor over which the spools may roll in transit. Otherwise, the dimensions of the. runway are such as to prevent end to end turning of the spools therein and so as to ice maintain an orderly row-like arrangement of the spools during transit. A spring biased closure piece 10c is disposed adjacent exit end lila for purposes presently to be described.

A transfer mechanism or flipper device 13 is disclosed adjacent the exit end 10a of the runway. The function of this mechanism 13 is to remove the spools 11 one by one from the runway of said exit lllaand to deliver each spool after its removal to the entrance 14a of a second runway 14. The latter runway serves to deliver the transferred spools therein no pressure rolling mechanism which functions to eliminate hangnails 12a in the rims of flanges 12 of the spools, as will be described in more detail hereinafter. r

The transfer mechanism or fiipper device 13 includes a segmentally shaped body 16 having an arcuate peripheral wall 17 whose width corresponds substantially to the width of the exit end 10a of the first-named runway. The center of generation of the wall 17 lies in the axis of a supporting shaft 18 on which the body 16 is supported for oscillatory rotation as by'a hub 19'. The wall 17 is provided adjacent one of its ends with depressed portions 2%) and 21 respectively perpendicular to each other which define a spool receiving recess 22. This recess '22 is positioned on the body 16 so that it may be brought into registry with the exit end Ilia or" the runway '16 in one position of movement of the body'13. In such position a spool 11 may drop into the recess 22 whose dimensions are large enough to receive but one spool at a time. After receiving a spool in its recess 22, the body 13 may be swung clear of said exit end toward the chute 14 carrying the spool within its recess 22 along with it. At this time, the wall 17 moves to a closing position beneath the exit 10a of the first chute 10, thus retaining the remaining spools within said chute. The cover overlies the recess 22 as the latter moves out of registry with said exit 10a and serves to retain the spool within recess 22 and prevent its premature release.

The leading wall 23 of the recess 22 is pivotally supported by a pivot pin 24 carried by the body 13. This wall or trapdoor has a crank arm 25 secured thereto which is engaged by a compression spring 26 which tends to maintain the wall or trap door 23 in the position shown in FIG. 3, wherein it lies at the front of the recess 22 and acts to retain the spool within said recess. The support shaft 18 carries a fixed cam or tripping member 27 which lies within the path of travel of the arm 25 of pivoted door 23 for tripping said door as desired during rotary oscillation of the segmental body 13 on shaft 18. Thus, as seen in FIG. 4, the cam member 27 serves to displace the arm 25 in one portion of a counterclockwise rotation of the body 13 when the latter has moved recess 22 to a position where a tripping displacement of thetrap door or wall 2 3 will permit'durnping of the spool in the recess 22 into the mouth of 14a of the second runway 14. In clockwise rotation of the body 13 for registration of the recess 22 with the exit end 10a of the first runway, the cam member 27 releases arm 25 in advance of the .arrival of the recess 22 below the exit end 10a so that door--23 is positioned so that it will retain a spool that drops into said recess when it'arrives at its said registry position with said exit end.

Rotary oscillation of the segmental body 16 may be eifected in any conventional way. For example, it may be coupled by a link 28 to an oscillating crank 29 driven in any conventional manner. The oscillating stroke of arm 29 which is transmitted via linkageZS to the body 16 is suflicient to move the latter audits recess 22 respectively from a position in line or in registry with the exit 10a to a position overlying the entry end of the second runway 14, namely, from the position shown in FIG. 1

to the position shown in FIG. 4, the position shown in PEG. 3 being intermediate that of FIGS. 1 and 4.

The entry end 14a of the second runway 14 has a lip 30 which serves to guide the successive spools released fromrecess 22 into said runway 14 via its entrance 14a. Any other suitable means of delivering the hangnail bearing spools in succession to the entry end Ma of runway 14 may be utilized.

The runway 14 is provided with an arcuately curved portion 31. This arcuately curved portion is open along its top face to permit entry therein of the periphery of a pressure roller 32. The shaft 33 of this pressure roller is supported between parallel arms 34 and 35 intermediate the opposite ends of said arms. These arms 34 and 35 are supported pivotally on a shaft 36 arranged at one pair of their ends. The opposite ends of said arms 34 and 35 are spanned by a spacing member 37 which is connected by tension biasing springs 3% to a fixed frame part 39. An adjustable limit stop 40 provides limitation to the inward movement of the roller 32 into the arcuate portion 31 of the chute or runway 14. The roller 32 may be conveniently driven in clockwise direction as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 in any conventional way. For example, this drive may be effected by a sprocket 41 secured to the shaft 33 and by a sprocket chain 42 operated by a driven sprocket 43. The length of arcuate portion 31 is in excess of the perimeter of each spool flange rim 12 so that each spool will undergo at least one revolution while being rolled by roller 32.

The pressure roller 32 is relatively massive being of heavy rigid material, such as steel, so that its weight together with the biasing action of springs 38 will act successively on spools moving downwardly withinthe runway 14 to press the hang nails on the flange rims 12 of the spools radially into said rims. At the same time the rotary motion of roller 32 will serve to advance the spools by rolling in the arcuate portion 31 of runway 14 toward its exit end. Since the length of arcuate portion 31 exceeds the peripheral length of the flange rims 12, a full rotation of each spool occurs during its traverse of the arcuate portion 31 thus insuring exertion of rolling pressure on all portions of the periphery of flange rim 12 and ironing down of the hangnail 12a into the rim 12 no matter where it appears on such rim. The spools leaving at said exit end in succession roll onto a platform 43 whence they may be distributed as desired.

Operation In operation of the device, the hangnail bearing spools 11 are delivered to the runway 10 from the ticketing machineand travel in superposed relationship toward its exit end 10a. At the latter, they successively fall into the recess 22 of the arcuate oscillating segment 16 when said recess registers with the exit end 10a. Each spool falling into the recess 22 is delivered by oscillatory movement of body 16 in one of its directions tothe entrance 14a of the second runway 1d. Premature dumping of the spool from recess 22 is prevented by the cover 100. When the recess 22 arrives at a delivery position relative to the entrance 14a, the trap dooror movable wall 23 of the recess is shifted or tripped by the cam member-27 to allow the spool therein to drop into the entrance 14a of the second runway. The spools-move downwardly in this runway towards its arcuately curved section 31 and, at this portion, the rimsof their flanges '12 are engaged by the moving outer surface of the driven pressure roller 32. This engagement and the movement of said toilet surface advance the spools. in a rolling condition under pressure through the arcuate portion 31 at least through one complete revolution. The pressure of the heavy roller on the spool rims flattens the hangnails 12a into While a specific embodiment of the invention has been presented herein, variations in structure within the scope of the appended claims are possible and are contemplated. There is no intention therefore of limitation to the exact details shown and described.

What is claimed is:

1. In apparatus for treating spools to eliminate hangnails on end flanges thereof, feeding means for delivering the hangnail bearing spools in orderly succession comprising a tubular inclined runway having an entrance at its uppermost end and an exit at its lowermostend, a shaft, a generally segmental body including a hub mounted on said shaft for oscillatory movement thereon, means for effecting such oscillatorymovement, said body having an arcuate wall portion alineable in one oscillatory position of said body with said exit to close it off, said body also having a, recess with an opentop adjoining said arcuate wall portion and an open leading side, said recess being movable in another oscillatory position of said body to underlie said exit and receive a single spool therefrom, a trap door member carried by said body and movable into closing and open positions relative to said open leading side, spring means for maintaining said trap door member in closing position relative to said open leading side when said recess underlies said exit, and trip means for moving said trap door member to an open position relative to said leading side for permitting discharge ofthe spool within the recess when said recess is moved away from below said exit and arrives at a delivery position remote from said exit during the oscillatory motion of said body.

2. in apparatus for treating spools to eliminate hangnails on end flanges thereohfeeding means for delivering the hangnail bearing spools in orderly succession comprising a tubular inclined runway having an entrance at its uppermost end and an exit at its lowermost end, a shaft, a generally segmental body including a hub mounted on said shaft for oscillatory movement thereon, means for effecting such oscillatory movement, said body having an arcuate wall portion alineable in one oscillatory position of said body with said exit to close itoif, said body also having a recess with an open top adjoining said arcuate wall portion and. an open leading side, said recess being movable in another oscillatory position of said body to underlie said exit and receive a single spool therefrom, a trap door member carried by said body and movable into closing and open positionsrelative to said open leading side, spring means for maintaining said trap door member in closing position relative to said open leading side when said recess underlies said exit, trip means for moving said trap door member to an open position relative to said leading side for permitting discharge of the spool within the recess when said recess is moved away from below said exit and arrives at a delivery position remote from said exit during the oscillatory motion of said body, said trip means including a cam member on said shaft which engages a portion of said trap door member when said recess arrives at said delivery position to then swing said trap door member'to its open position.

3. Apparatus for treating spools to eliminate hangnails on end flanges thereof comprising a rolling compressionmechanism to apply rolling pressure to said end flanges and feeding means for delivering hangnail hearing spools to said rolling compression mechanism in orderly succession, said feeding means comprising a tubular inclined runway having an entrance at its uppermost end andan exit at its lowermost end, a shaft, a generally seg mental body including a hub mounted on said shaft for oscillatory movement thereon, means for effecting such oscillatory movement, said body having an arcuate wall portion alignable in one oscillatory position of said body with said exit to close it off, said body also having a recess with an open top adjoining said arcuate wall por tion and an open leading side, saidrecess being movable in another oscillatory position of said body to underlie said exit and receive a single spool therefrom, a trap door member carried by said body and movable into closing and open positions relative to said open leading side, spring means for maintaining said trap door member in closing position relative to said open leading side when said recess underlies said exit, and trip means for moving said trap door member to an open position relative to said leading side for permitting discharge of the spool within the recess when said recess is moved away from below said exit and arrives at a delivery position remote from said exit during the oscillatory motion of said body, said rolling compression mechanism comprising a second tubular inclined runway, having an entrance in proximity to said exit of said feeding means to receive spools therefrom, a driven roller Whose periphery enters a portion of said second runway, said periphery engageable with said end flanges of said spools to exert rolling pressure thereon for at least one full revolution of each spool, external supporting means, and a roller support on which said roller is mounted, said roller support being hingedly connected at one end thereof to external supporting means, and having a spring at the other end thereof connecting said roller support with external supporting means.

4. Apparatus for treating spools to eliminate hangnails on end flanges thereof comprising a rolling compression mechanism to apply rolling pressure to said end flanges and feeding means for delivering hangnail bearing spools to said rolling compression mechanism in orderly succession, said feeding means comprising a tubular inclined runway having an entrance at its uppermost end and an exit at its lowermost end, a shaft, 21 generally segmental body including a hub mounted on said shaft for oscillatory movement thereon, means for effecting such oscillatory movement, said body having an arcuate wall portion alignable in one oscillatory position of said body with said exit to close it off, said body also having a recess with an open top adjoining said arcuate wall portion and an open leading side, said recess being movable in another oscillatory position of said body to underlie said exit and receive a single spool therefrom, a trap door member carried by said body and movable into closing and open positions relative to said open leading side, spring means for maintaining said trap door member in closing position relative to said open leading side when said recess underlies said exit, trip means for moving said trap door member to an open position relative to said leading side for permitting discharge of the spool within the recess when said recess is moved away from below said exit and arrives at a delivery position remote from said exit during the oscillatory motion of said body, said trip means including a cam member on said shaft which engages a portion of said trap door member when said recess arrives at said delivery position to swing said trap door member to its open position, said rolling compression mechanism comprising a second tubular inclined runway having an entrance in proximity to said exit of said feeding means to receive spools therefrom, a roller whose periphery enters a portion of said second runway, said periphery engageable with said end flanges of said spools to exert rolling pressure thereon for at least one full revolution of each spool, means for driving said roller, external supporting means, and a roller support to which said roller is rotatably connected, said roller support being hingedly connected at its upper end to external supporting means, and having a spring at its lower end connecting said roller support with external supporting means.

5. Apparatus for treating spools to eliminate .hangnails on end flanges thereof comprising a rolling compression mechanism to apply rolling pressure to said end flanges and feeding means for delivering hangnail bearing spools to said rolling compressfon mechanism in orderly succession, said feeding means comprising a tubular inclined runway having an entrance at its uppermost end and an exit at its lowermost end, a shaft, a generally segmental body including a hub mounted on said shaft for oscillatory movement thereon, means for effecting such oscillatory movement, said body having an arcuate wall portion alignable in oneoscillatory position of said body with said exit to close it off, said body also having a recess with an open top adjoining said arcuate wall portion and an open leading side, said recess being movable in another oscillatory position of said body to underlie said exit and receive a single spool therefrom, a trap door member carried by said body and movable into closing and open positions relative to said open leading side, spring means for maintaining said trap door member in closing position relative to said open leading side when said recess underlies said exit, trip means for moving said trap door member to an open position relative to said leading side for permitting discharge of the spool within the recess when said recess is moved away from below said exit and arrives at a delivery position remote from said exit during the oscillatory motion of said body, said trip means including a cam member on said shaft which engages a portion of said trap door member when said recess arrives at said delivery position to swing said trap door member to its open position, said rolling compression mechanism comprising a second tubular inclined runway having an entrance in proximity to said exit of said feeding means to receive spools therefrom, the lower portion of said second runway being arcuately curved, said lower portion having an open top surface, a roller whose periphery enters the open top surface of said second runway, said periphery engageable with said end flanges of saidspools to exert rolling pressure thereon for at least one full revolution of each spool, means for driving said roller, a supporting frame, and roller support arms on which said roller is rotatably mounted intermediate the ends thereof, said roller arms being pivotally connected at their upper ends to said supporting frame, and having a tension biased spring at their lower ends connecting said roller arms with said supporting frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent I UNITED STATES PATENTS 

